by K Helms
“Now what?” asked Daniel.
“Now,” said the knight “we go through the door.”
“Are we going to that castle,” Mia pointed at the hazy vista.
“No, first we must go to mine and then speak to the Gemini,” said Regeliel.
“Of course, the Gemini, who else would we speak to?” said Daniel sarcastically.
“I don’t know, maybe the Pirate,” concluded Mick with equal sarcasm.
Daniel smiled.
The knight led them toward the haze and Mia laid a hand on the knight’s armored bicep. “This isn’t going to hurt us, is it?”
The knights’ expression softened and he smiled with his eyes “No, M’Lady, not at all; watch as I go first,” he said and walked easily through the haze. They watched as he emerged on the other side and waved at them, suddenly towering above them.
“Well, he wasn’t shittin’ about being a giant,” muttered Daniel.
Mick put his arm around Mia’s waist and they entered the haze together. Bodie exhaled sharply as he saw them from the other side. Daniel whistled softly.
“You ready, Brotha?” asked the big man.
Daniel nodded his head and they strode forward.
Nan gripped Death Wagon’s upper arm and he patted her hand reassuringly. “It looks like everyone else is OK, we’ll be fine.” They stepped forward and…nothing.
A puzzled look etched Death Wagon’s face. They tried to go forward again but couldn’t; it was as if invisible hands held them back each time they tried to move forward. The two of them looked at the others from the other side of the haze.
“We can’t go through, Mia!” cried Nan despairingly.
Mia looked at Regeliel, her fear was obvious.
Regeliel had no explanation for this to occur and felt his heart sadden.
“Mick?” Mia asked.
Mick shook his head. “I’m sorry Reg… it looks like you are on your own. We aren’t leaving Nan.”
Regeliel nodded his head slowly. “I understand, of course. I would do the same if roles were reversed. Go back and protect your family.”
Nan interjected. “Sir Regeliel, that’s crap!”
Death Wagon looked at her surprised. “Nan?”
“No, Death, Regeliel came a long way to search for someone to help his family; he left his own family to do that. Mia you go with Mick and Regeliel! Death and I will be fine,” said Nan. Silently Death liked this arrangement; he doubted that he would ever trust the knight with Nan’s safety after he had seen how methodically he had decapitated his ‘squires’ in Parkersburg.
Mia felt tears pooling in her eyes. “I don’t want to leave you, Nan.”
“I know that, Mia, but you told Sir Regeliel that you would help him. You gave your word, so you have to keep it. We’ll be fine; Death will protect me.”
Mick wrapped his arm around Mia’s slight shoulder. She felt so small right now. “She’s right, Mia.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” shot Mia. She immediately regretted her tone. “I’m sorry, Mickey,” she said, and then buried her face in his shoulder, crying as quietly as she could.
“Man, this is awkward,” said Daniel from behind the group. Bodie said nothing; he just stared at his friend and shook his head.
“Death Wagon, take Nan back to the mine. When we return we’ll call,” said Mick.
“You’d better,” said Nan.
“C’mon, Nan,” said Death Wagon turning her away.
“I love you, little sister,” cried Mia.
Nan looked over her shoulder, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I love you too, all of you.” She broke into sobs and Death supported her, wrapping an arm around her waist as they walked back the way they came.
Mia and the others watched them retreat into the depths of the room and wondered if they would ever see them again.
Chapter 48 - POW’s
Wright Patterson Air Force Base
Dayton, Ohio
Hito and Shere arrived at Wright Patterson Air Force Base at dawn. It had been Shere’s idea to check the massive military installation, knowing that it was supposed to have been a relocation camp for civilians. She wasn’t sure exactly how many people she had sent here to work as slaves to a corrupt remnant of the military, but she had not known that was occurring and would never have knowingly participated. He drove to the front gate in an armored HMMWV. The gates were destroyed and the heavy gauge wire was bent over toward the inside of the compound. In fact, all the perimeter fences had been pushed over as if a bulldozer had been at work even though there were no tracks from a dozer or tank or any other heavy equipment, only footprints. There were thousands of footprints, maybe millions. He drove toward the obvious choice of destinations. The concrete bastion resembled a castle, but the place now resembled a ghost town, like Chernobyl. Debris and grisly body parts lay strewn over the entirety of the parade deck; charred remains of soldiers and zombie alike lay burned in death locks everywhere. Great blackened holes where artillery shells had impacted had torn through the pavement, fracturing it, leaving jagged chunks of cement heaved up around the circumferences of the craters. As he drove past what appeared to be an old squad bay he saw that it had been barred and transformed into a makeshift prison. There were gaunt, haunted looking faces pressed against the bars and they waved and shouted at him for help. He put the armored vehicle in park and told Shere to slide over and take the wheel in case anything went down, then he walked to the rear of the Hummer and opened the back hatch. Hito grabbed a large dusty sea bag from it and slung it over his shoulder before he walked to the barred prison window and stood beneath it. One haggard face pleaded for him to let them out. The prisoners were clearly starving.
“First, tell me… what happened here?” asked Hito.
“There was a huge army of zombies that over-ran the base. There must have been a million of them, they just kept coming and coming and coming... there were thousands of other zombies here too, but they just turned around and wandered off. I don’t know if they’re still around here or not. Do you have any water, mister? I’m dyin’ in here.” the man begged.
Hito held up a hand. “I have a few more questions. Where is this army now?”
They all converged into the castle, but after that I don’t know. I suppose that they are still in there because they never came back out, but I don’t know how they all would fit into it unless they went out through the back.”
“How long ago was this?”
“They started arriving about four or five days ago. The fighting began a day or two after that and the zombies had been storming the castle up until last night. It took them that long to get in, that’s how many of them there were.”
“OK, one more question. How many of you are in there that are still alive?”
The face looked over both shoulders and shrugged. “I would guess about three hundred or so, a few of the weaker inmates died.”
“What’s your name, bub?” asked Hito as he rummaged in the large olive colored bag.
“I’m 236,” said the man
Hito shook his head. “No, man, what’s your real name.”
The man hesitated; he hadn’t used any other moniker for a long time. “It’s Powell…James Powell.”
Hito took a canteen from a pouch on his webbed belt and held it up to the man. “Catch.” Upon hearing the man’s name he remembered Annie’s Doctor and instantly disliked the man even though he had nothing to do with what had been done to her.
The man stretched both arms through the bars. Hito tossed the water up to the man who caught it the first try.
“Nice hands,” said Hito. The man greedily drank from the canteen. When he stopped he was almost out of breath.
“I played football when I was in high school,” he said with a smile then passed the canteen to someone behind him that Hito couldn’t see. “Thanks, man. Now can you let us out?”
“Yeah James, just as soon as I find the door to this place,” answered Hito with a
trace of trepidation. The man pointed to his right.
“It’s over there on the other side,” said James.
Hito nodded and walked to it. There was still a part of him that wanted to kill every living person he encountered, but Shere had made her objections known and he couldn’t risk losing her. He was aware that some of the people he allowed to live could very possibly become enemies that he would have to compete with later.
He opened the outer door and entered the caged squad bay. It reeked of death, feces and urine. He looked at the faces of the prisoners. They were unshaven, filthy and all had the same expression of hope etched on their faces. He saw James and addressed the man.
“If I let you out, I don’t want you following me around. Once you’re out, you’re on your own and you get moving. Understand?”
There was a murmur of acceptance and Hito placed his hand on the lock release lever. He paused for a minute, still unsure if this was wise. They were in a prison after all and letting a mob of criminals out didn’t sit well with him. He pulled out a grenade from his pack and tossed it into the air, catching it. “When I open this I am going to back out of here. You are to give me two minutes, and then you can leave. If you don’t follow my instructions I will pull this pin…I think you can guess what that will do.”
He watched their anxious expressions, pulled the lever and began to back out the outer door. They didn’t move.
Hito then slung the pack over his shoulder with a grunt and jogged briskly to the Hummer. He climbed into the shotgun seat and Shere put the diesel engine in gear. “Did you let them out?”
He rubbed the St. Jude medallion that hung around his neck as they drove toward the castle. “Yeah, but I told them to give me a couple of minutes. Drive over there and park behind that building,” he said, pointing to a good vantage point. He didn’t want the prisoners to see Shere; there was no way he would give her up and the prisoners didn’t need to see anything that would tempt them.
She pulled behind the building and shut the Hummer down; the engine ticked as he watched from around the corner while the prisoners fled from their cage and made a break for the fallen gates en mass. Some stopped to pick up weapons and ordinance and Hito cringed. He would deal with them as needed. As the last of them exited the compound, Shere pulled the Hummer back out and they drove toward the main building of the base.
He saw the main gates of the castle that had been bent over and drove through the outer wall. There was more carnage, and charred, dismembered bodies lay everywhere, while dark stains dotted, streaked and smeared the concrete. Weapons were strewn about, but Hito didn’t need any more, he had enough of them and plenty of ammo. Shere jerked the vehicle to a halt and he got out. He went around to the back of the truck and geared up with body armor and a 12 gauge pump shotgun, while he slung two bandoliers of shells that crisscrossed his torso and that wasn’t including his side arms. Glock 40’s on both ankles, on his right hip and beneath his arm pits were ‘the Twins’. He also carried a black Katana that was looped over his shoulder. He threw on a long black duster and the handle of the katana jutted out the back of the upturned collar. The knight he had seen in Parkersburg had motivated him to pick up something that he didn’t need to reload. He hoped he would see the man again since he didn’t think Shere would object to his killing of one mentally deranged asshole that thought he was Ivanhoe. He slid a hand through his shaggy black hair, but his bangs fell back to hang over his left eye. He leaned into the driver side window, kissed Shere on the mouth, and told her to go up to the roof of one of the empty barracks and guard the perimeter. She turned on her Walkie-talkie and winked at him.
“You did the right thing, Hito. I’m proud of you,” Shere said, and he felt uncomfortable but profoundly pleased by her praise as he hurried away. He thought that he could get used to having a woman that appreciated even the small things. He entered the bastion by way of huge double doors made of four inch thick steel; dried blood and the smell of death made his mouth water, like he was getting ready to vomit but he held it in. The bastion was silent. He walked forward, his boot heels echoing in the emptiness. He didn’t have to try to figure out where he needed to go as the blood trails led his way through empty corridors and command rooms and down multiple levels of staircases. Finally, he arrived at Section Three. The walls were completely covered in gore up to shoulder height, leaving no semblance of what color the actual paint had been. The smell of death still lingered in the air. The door here had been bent back from the hinges and he could see that the room beyond was huge. The ceiling in this room was at least one hundred feet high and its width was probably ten times that. He could hear a steady rhythmic pulsing sound, low in frequency that made his ear drums rattle. He slammed the butt of the shotgun into his shoulder and dropped down to one knee in the doorway. The room was empty except for some computer terminals, desks and chairs that looked like a steam roller had ran over them, Hito didn’t see anyone in the massive room. What he did see was the UFO sitting benignly, maybe expectantly waiting for him. Part of the UFO was hidden behind a window of some sort. He thought it might have been some sort of hologram and within it he saw a hillside with something that resembled Stonehenge silhouetted in the distance. He walked to the saucer. He was sure that there would be more to kill there than here.
As he neared it he felt more than heard a great vibration. The image of the castle dissolved before his eyes and he could only see the ship hovering above the reinforced concrete deck. He instinctively ducked back out of the open room and into the hallway, still peering through the sights of his shotgun.
The ship floated effortlessly up to the ceiling and he felt the vibrations of it touching the concrete through his boots. Suddenly the ceiling crashed down upon the ship, but the chunks of concrete didn’t seem to actually touch the ship; the debris fell around it and crashed heavily to the floor. The room filled with dust and debris making Hito choke. He turned on his heel and ran back the way he had come and he could hear the upper floors caving in one after another. As he ran up, floor after floor of stairs, the dust cloud rushed ahead of him leaving him to sling his shotgun over his shoulder and grab the hand railing to guide him out before the rest of the building collapsed around him. His lungs were on fire and he couldn’t get air into them and he began to cough convulsively. He fell to his hands and knees hacking out the dust. He had no idea how close he was to the exit, but he knew he would not make it.
Suddenly he felt hands around his waist lifting him to his feet and he felt the weight of his pack fall from his back as the shotgun was ripped from his shoulder. He was rushed up a few more stairs then straight for what seemed like a mile before exploding outside into the sunlight. They dropped to the ground still choking. They rolled onto their backs and the two of them lay side by side, completely gray, covered in dust. Hito began choking up the dust from his lungs again. He felt cold water spill on to his face and hands wiping his face urgently. The hands leaned him forward and held the canteen for him, spilling it down the front of his black t-shirt. He drank and choked then drank some more. His breathing was becoming easier as he expelled the debris from his lungs. He heard someone above him; it was Shere.
“C’mon, Hito. C’mon, now…”
He opened his eyes, but his vision was blurred by the dust caked in them.
“That’s it Hito…” Shere poured more water on his face and wiped at his eyes, flushing them the best she could. He felt kisses peppering his forehead.
“Hito, I thought I’d lost you …” Shere cut off her words as the vibration increased. The two of them watched in amazement as the saucer shaped disk emerged from the top of the crumbling structure. It hovered in the sky for a moment before it shot off toward the south-east at an incredible rate of speed.
“Oh my god,” said Shere softly. The two of them sat there looking at the sky trying to make sense of what they had just witnessed. Hito felt Shere’s hands slip under his arms, hoisting him to his feet. She led him back to the Hummer and l
aid him in the back. She jumped in the drivers’ seat and sped out of the base, out of Dayton.
“Where are we going?” asked Hito, still hoarse and weak from lack of oxygen. He felt a hand rubbing his leg assuring him.
“Someplace safe,” said Shere.
Chapter 49 - A Hearty Yo Ho Silver
Wright Patterson Air Force Base
Dayton, Ohio
Arlington gave out a loud rebel yell as the ship careened up from the ruins of its concrete and rebar confines and shot across the sky.
“HAW!” agreed Laptu, clapping his enormous hands together.
Arlington looked over to where his hairy friend sat and exclaimed, “Let’s see what this baby can do!”
“DO!” seconded the Pedtu, bouncing energetically in his seat.
I’ll take that as a yes. Arlington supposed and then directed his thoughts to Basil at the helm and the ship soared upward like a shot. There was no G- force slamming him back into his seat like fighter jets, just a smooth glide and the lightest of hums. He thought that Basil was either one helluva pilot or this ship was incredible. Probably both, he thought.
For the first time in his life, Arlington felt a freedom he had never known. No nine to five to weigh him down, no alcoholic addiction, and no self-pity for his missing hand that had ended a career. He glanced back at Laptu and smiled with a hint of sadness. “Don’t worry ol’ buddy, I won’t park the truck on top of you.”
Laptu looked over at Arlington, confused and tilted his head to the side, questioningly.
The ship is a three-man crew, Arlington thought with chagrin, and we have a hook-handed alcoholic, an Egyptian guardian of the dead with one eye and a hairy ape with the intelligence of a four year old. What can possibly go wrong?
“OK Basil…we need to go to my trailer first to pick up a few things.”
“Try not to bring back any roaches,” said the Anubis smugly.